Decided to write another story from the wonderful Island of Submarine. In this story, Matilda gets what she wishes for, in a way she never could have expected. Enjoy.

Jake is me, and the ghost engine is © to me.

everyone else in the story is © to  Blueratmatt

Based on the Thomas magazine story; "Peep and Sleep".

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Ratburgers had been very busy, and there were a few crazy karens that had come in. Jake had done a good job of kicking them out, but it was exhausting. Matilda was especially exhausted, she had been running from table to table taking orders, and as such was the first person the karens snapped at. She was feeling irritable and exhausted by the time the restaurant closed for the day.

"Whew..." Jake sighed as he took a drink. "There were more karens here today than there likely was at the supermarket." "Tell me about it." Matt replied. "It wasn't easy getting all the orders filled out either." "Wanna trade?" Jake asked "It'd be nice to NOT deal with karens for a day and cook instead." he added, teasingly. "It'd be nice to just rest and relax for the rest of the evening." Matilda sighed. "you know what, I think I'll do that." she said to herself.

Matilda walked back into the room she and Matt shared. On her way there, she saw Alice. "Hey Matilda, could you be my test subject for-" "No..." Matilda interrupted "I just want a rest." She went into her and Matt's room, and laid down on the bed. A while later, she was disturbed from her slumber. "Mom, Dinner." called PJ from outside the room. Matilda was annoyed. "No thanks." she said flatly. Another while later, Matt entered the room. "Are you ok?" he asked Matilda. "I'm fine." Matilda grumbled. "It doesn't sound like it." Matt replied. "What's wrong?" Matilda lost patience. "I've had to rush to every single table taking orders, and dealing with people being loud as hell! I just want some quiet time to myself!" she answered crossly. Matt was taken aback by her snap. "Ok. I'll leave you alone." he said, before leaving.

"Good." Matilda said to herself "I wish everyone would just leave me alone. I wish everyone would just be quiet." time passed, and she couldn't hear any noise. "That's better." she sighed. "Not a peep..." Matilda dozed before finally falling asleep.


Matilda slept for a long time before beginning to stir. Something felt off. She opened her eyes and saw that the room was misty, and there were vines and other plants growing on the walls. "What the hell?!" she said. "Is this some sick joke?!" she asked. "Matt, did you do this?!" there was no reply. Matilda let out a groan of frustration before getting out of bed and exiting the room. as she went into the hallway, there was more mist and plants growing off of everything. She could also see the floorboards were rotten. Now she was even more confused. "There's no way Matt could have done this. something's wrong." Matilda called out his name again, but again, there was no answer.

Matilda walked around Ratburgers, everything was overgrown and old. "What happened here?" she asked. Matilda walked outside the restaurant. Most of the roof had caved in, the glass windows on the first floor was broken, the logo had fallen from it's point and had splintered on the ground, and moss, vines, and lichen covered the building. "What happened here? And where is everyone?!" Matilda asked frantically. She was now very scared. "I know..." said a voice. Matilda jumped in surprise "Who said that?!" she asked nervously. "I did." said the voice again. Matilda looked to where the voice came from. There a couple yards in front of her was what looked like a ghostly engine.

"Everyone left." The engine said. "Why?" asked Matilda "And why did they leave me behind?" "Because that was what you wanted." the ghost engine answered. "You wanted everyone to leave you alone, and you wanted everyone to not make a sound, not even a peep." Matilda didn't know what to think. "I helped out a bit with the latter." the ghost engine continued. "What do you mean?" Matilda asked nervously. "You see..." the ghost engine answered "I have the ability to make people fall asleep, blocking out anything from the outside world. The downside is that it lasts for a hundred years." it explained. Matilda looked on mouth agape. "In that time, the population dwindled, along with the many resources the island had. The few who remained went to live in new towns, leaving submarine to rot." the ghost engine finished.

Matilda was speechless. "Everyone you knew and loved are now gone. the only thing left now is your home, which crumbles little by little, day after day." the ghost engine said. "But... Submarine may soon be rediscovered, soon the town that time forgot will shine like new one special day. until then, it's best to get some rest for when that day arrives." it added. "No!" Matilda said at last. "I don't want to sleep anymore, I want my home, my friends, my family, I want it all back!" she cried. "I'm afraid you won't get your family and friends back." the ghost engine said to her. "they're not here anymore. all that's left is submarine, which will someday be restored. but until than, I think it's time you had a rest." it finished, before letting out a great cloud of steam towards Matilda, who screamed as it enveloped her.


Matilda woke with a start, she was back in her and Matt's bedroom. This time, there was no mist and no overgrowth. Matilda sighed with relief, glad to be out of the nightmare she had had. Matilda looked over to Matt's side of the bed, but he wasn't there. Matilda walked into the living room, and found Matt asleep on the couch. She gently shook him awake. "What's going on?" Matt asked Matilda. "You know how I said I wanted quiet time to myself?" Matilda asked. "I know." Matt answered. "I promise we'll all be quiet tomorrow evening." "No!" Matilda said "I don't want that anymore..." and she told Matt about her dream.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you." she said "Please, could you come back to bed with me?" Matt smiled "I'd love to. And if that ghost engine tries to do anything to us, I'll rip off it's funnel!" Matilda laughed before she and Matt went to bed. Even if all the alarms in town were to be blaring at that moment, Matilda wouldn't care, she was just glad to not be alone. She promised that she would never take what she had for granted, ever again.